Toll charge in Portugal...

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I'm off on holiday to Portugal soon and will be hiring a car. We'll be collecting the car at Faro airport and will be driving along the A22 motorway all the way to Lagos (in Portugal, not Nigeria!!).

Along this route they have an electronic tolling system, and when your car's plate is picked up passing through the toll it triggers a charge. Now this charge can only be paid at a post office 48 hours after the journey. This isn't a problem when I pass the toll at the beginning of the holiday, but at the end of the holiday on the way back to the airport/drop off it's going to be impossible to pay because of the 48 hours you need to wait.

Been reading that the Portuguese government send you a letter (to your home address, as supplied by the hire company) requesting payment of the toll plus anything up to a couple of hundred euros for not paying in the first place.

I'm not really worried about being in debt to them, but I don't want it to affect any car hiring I might do in the future.


Anybody travelled in Portugal (the Algarve in particular) and not paid the toll?? What was the outcome??

 

[hades-]

my bro is there quite a bit and hires every time
he says he notes any tolls and pays the hire company they in turn pay it for a small fee.

he says some not all hire places have the TAG system included in the cars for a small fee

 

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my bro is there quite a bit and hires every time
he says he notes any tolls and pays the hire company they in turn pay it for a small fee.

he says some not all hire places have the TAG system included in the cars for a small fee

Read about people asking for hire companies to pay on their behalf but most refuse. There's a paragraph in the terms of the company I'm using that says the only thing they'll do when it comes to toll charges is pass on customer details to the authorities when they receive a request, and they don't provide transponders for prepaid toll credit.

I think the general feeling of hire companies is the toll system is a big headache that causes them enough extra admin already, without starting to pay tolls on behalf of customers.

Think I'll just take my chances.

 

[s4tronic]

Take N125 instead, decent enough road and not as dangerous as some people make it sound.... if you're on holidays you're not in the hurry. Granted M'way would be quicker but really distances are so short that you're not making up a lot of time...

 

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Take N125 instead, decent enough road and not as dangerous as some people make it sound.... if you're on holidays you're not in the hurry. Granted M'way would be quicker but really distances are so short that you're not making up a lot of time...

Yeah thought about taking the N125 from the airport to resort, but that leg of the toll isn't really a problem because I'll be able to pay it a couple of days after. It's the return leg on my way back to the airport at the end of our holiday that is the problem, and I don't really want to muck about on the N125 for 70km as we have an early flight so don't want to risk missing it.

 

[s4tronic]

Yeah thought about taking the N125 from the airport to resort, but that leg of the toll isn't really a problem because I'll be able to pay it a couple of days after. It's the return leg on my way back to the airport at the end of our holiday that is the problem, and I don't really want to muck about on the N125 for 70km as we have an early flight so don't want to risk missing it.

you'll do as you want but honestly I had an early morning flight out of Faro as well and road was empty before 6am... honestly wouldn't bother with the toll but if you really really want it you can leave 5 EUR at the hotel, resort etc and ask them or a friend to pay it for you after 2 days....

 

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you'll do as you want but honestly I had an early morning flight out of Faro as well and road was empty before 6am... honestly wouldn't bother with the toll but if you really really want it you can leave 5 EUR at the hotel, resort etc and ask them or a friend to pay it for you after 2 days....

Thanks, but reckon I'll just have to leave without paying the toll, to be honest. I very much doubt the hotel will be prepared to queue up in a post office to pay guests' toll charges. And unless I make a very good friend during the week I'm in Portugal, it'll be hard to find someone else to do it for me.

I'm set on taking the A22 back to the airport, meaning I pass the toll. I'm interested in finding out what the outcome was for anyone else who has done it.

This tolling setup is ridiculous for non-residents. Not very well thought out at all, especially as the place is full of tourists in hire cars!

 

[JudderMan]

Tape up the number plate on your way back......especially if it's an early flight.

LOL, don't do this, it's bad!

 

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Tape up the number plate on your way back......especially if it's an early flight.

LOL, don't do this, it's bad!

The geezer at the hire company said not to sweat it. He said they hardly ever get contacted by the local government asking for driver's address etc, and knows for a fact that almost every car they hire out is driven to the airport without paying the tolls.

They must be buckling under the sheer weight of issuing tickets for non payment of tolls.